London - page 1

November 10-18, 1999

Page 1

Wednesday, November 10

I’m in LONDON! Found a hotel shuttle service and waited to catch the fasttrain into London. I traveled into the city with a Mother, Daughter, and Granddaughter from Texas who had pre-booked the shuttle. The shuttle was supposed to meet us at Victoria Station and drop us at our hotels. The Airbus shuttle sounded like a better deal for £18 than taking the train for £10 and then taxi fare, and no help with the luggage along the way.

The Airbus wasn’t such a great idea after all. They helped us on the train at the airport and assured us that another Airbus rep would be waiting on the platform when we arrived to take us to our hotels. We arrived at the station and there was no one from Airbus in sight. We managed to drag our luggage off the train before it left the station. Then we stood on the cold platform for another 30 minutes while the other train workers tried to locate the Airbus guy. He finally showed up as we were trying to round up enough change to make a phone call.

I started getting a headache 30 minutes before landing, so it was bad by the time I finally reached my hotel. I decided to take an hour nap before starting the day. Housekeeping walked in twice within an hour, without knocking, so I didn’t get any real sleep. I was feeling a little better by 2:00 and I was hungry, so I headed out to activate my TravelCard and find some food. (The TravelCard is a pre-paid voucher for unlimited passage on the busses and subway.) The Queensway tube station was just around the corner from my hotel but they couldn’t issue the travel vouchers and sent me to Bayswater station. Bayswater couldn’t issue them either and suggested Queensway again. Queensway sent me to Victoria Station next, and Victoria Station sent me to Euston, but only after I made them call and verify that they could actually issue the vouchers. The Station Assistant even gave me free passage to Euston Station. I found another SA at Euston who sent me upstairs, where I had to ask yet another person for directions to the right ticket counter. It was no problem at all to redeem the voucher once I found the right booth. Five hours of touring Tube stations, and a little shopping thrown in along the way, and I finally had my TravelCard. I ate dinner at a deli in Euston Station and then called it a day.

The Inverness Court Hotel was an experience in itself. It was an old building and the lobby was ornate and very old British in style. The room was very small. Only a single bed, desk and a small, two-drawer chest. The bathroom was equally small, and as I learned on this trip, wash cloths are nonexistent in London. The toilet paper came in a small box of flat sheets, much like Kleenex. There were no electrical outlets in the room. Lamps and the 13-inch TV were direct-wired into the wall, so no hair dryer or curling iron during this stay. The hotel had lifts (elevators), which were equally old and would only hold about 4 people, even though the sign said “Limit of 7 persons.” The lifts also tended to bounce a couple of times each time they stopped on a floor. Despite all the little quirks, the room was clean, warm, and quiet.

Inverness Court Hotel L1-0a

My tiny room - no electrical outlets LW4-3a	Tiny bathroom LW4-1a

Thursday, November 11

Today I had scheduled a tour to Stonehenge and Bath and I was set to meet the bus at 7:55am. I got up early, ate breakfast, and asked for *exact* directions to the hotel pickup point. I was told to go to the corner, turn left, walk to the 3rd street, turn left again, then right on Lancaster Terrace. I was looking for the Charles Dickens hotel which they said was a “big hotel that I couldn’t miss when I turn onto the street.” Well......after stopping in two more hotels and getting more directions, I learned that the Charles Dickens hotel had changed it’s name. It was already 8:05 by the time I learned this rather important piece of information. I had the hotel call the tour company to tell them I had missed the pickup but was still trying to catch up to the tour. The next option was to meet the bus at Victoria Coach Station. The fastest way was by taxi. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any cash on me, and taxis don’t accept traveler’s checks or credit cards, and no one was willing to cash a traveler’s check for me. More walking (actually running) aimless, trying to find a Tube station. 40 minutes to reach Victoria Station, another 40 minutes to find the right Coach Station since there’s more than one on Victoria. I finally reached the Frames Rickard desk at 9:30 and the tour clerk said I could reschedule my trip for the next week. I would be staying in a different hotel by then and the pickup point would be different, so I had them mark on my map where the pickup point would be. Mental note: find the hotel pickup point the day before the tour next week.

Since my plans for the day were shot, I started wandering aimlessly again. I wandered into the ritzy part of town: designer shops, limos and Mercedes, expensive flats with well-manicured window boxes. I decided to head towards Buckingham Palace while I was in the neighborhood.